1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic grading machines and more particularly pertains to a new scanning and scoring grading machine for automatically grading answers which consist of alphanumeric characters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of automatic grading machines is known in the prior art. More specifically, automatic grading machines heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art automatic grading machines include U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,973; U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,305; U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,761; U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,395; U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,239; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 354,305.
In these respects, the scanning and scoring grading machine according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of automatically grading answers which consist of alphanumeric characters.